Now that Nick Clegg has come out and not really apologised for raising tuition fees, I feel like students should do the same (This is not easy but I am sorry, 20 September). We're sorry that anyone ever thought you were capable of acting decently. We're not sorry for fighting the fee rise every step of the way, we're not sorry about Millbank, and we're not sorry for derailing the higher education bill – because these are tough times, and we'll do whatever we have to in order to save education and the welfare state.

This autumn, starting with a national demonstration on 21 November, students will again be launching a wave of direct action against the government's education policies, alongside the trade union movement's demonstration in October. We'll be calling for free education, funded by taxation of the rich.Michael ChessumNational Campaign Against Fees and Cuts

• I voted Lib Dem and, in coalition, I was prepared for compromise. I accepted tuition fees as a necessary evil in order to gain concessions elsewhere. A convincing case would have kept me in the Lib Dem camp. But it now seems they knew before the election that the pledge was not attainable. That is dishonest. As for Vince Cable on Newsnight disclosing he "had reservations" but supported the policy and accepted his share of responsibility – that is not accepting blame, but an attempt at worming out of his share. My affair with the Lib Dems is over, and I will go back to Labour. Not out of great conviction, but I have to vote for somebody.Dirk TinbergenLeicester

• Clegg's been great as a dynamic leader, and brave in stepping up to the plate to form the coalition at a time of national crisis. But as for day-to-day political developments … where was he in the Olympics ? In the reshuffle? Why did he hold hands with Michael Gove – a toxic brand if ever there was one – in launching the ill-conceived EBacc ? And why now of all times for an unconvincing "sorry" for the fees pledge? Now – when many have forgotten, and those that haven't won't change their minds; now – when really the smart time would have been just after the election, warning the nation about the price of coalition; now, just before the annual conference which members rely on to inspire.

The implication of the apology is that the pledge was impossible to deliver on; but this is just untrue. Politicians decide priorities and could have made this happen. And, anyway, they should have been forcing down higher education costs – massively higher than in other countries – not pushing fees up. Worst of all, the BBC commentary prompted by this apology is that the Lib Dems did not make the pledge a priority in coalition negotiations with either party – indeed it was hardly discussed. It's increasingly not just students who feel betrayed.Cllr Chris NaylorLib Dem, London borough of Camden

• When is an apology not an apology? Seemingly when you apologise for making a promise but not for breaking it. If, as claimed by Clegg, it was a promise that the Lib Dems couldn't deliver, this manifesto commitment was either naive at best, or manipulative at worst. Julie GilsonLondon

• Clegg pledges: "I will never again make a pledge unless as a party we are absolutely clear about how we can keep it." Does this pledge include itself? Is he clear how he can keep such a pledge?Brian SmithBerlin

• Clegg says we learn from our mistakes. Now he just needs to explain to those discouraged from applying for university how they will be able to learn from his.Mark LewinskiSwaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire

• The only way the Lib Dems can demonstrate true contrition is for them to resign and re-contest every university seat they won with the aid of their false promises.Alan ChedzoyWeymouth, Dorset

• It's only a week ago since I thought that the depths of hypocrisy had been well and truly plumbed by Kelvin MacKenzie's mealy mouthed apology for his Hillsborough headline. How wrong I was.Graham DownieStudley, Warwickshire